(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway’s Limited Late Model division takes center stage this Friday night, July 12th with the extra distance Riley Generators 30. Who will be the favorite to take the checkered flag is anyone’s guess as the Limited Late Model division is as competitive as it has ever been with 9 different feature winners in the first 9 races of the season. The 9 different winners is already tied for the second most winners a Limited Late Model season has ever seen at Stafford and only 2 more winners behind the record of 11 different winners, which came during the 2006 season.
The season began with Matt Clement winning the season opening NAPA Spring Sizzler® and he has been followed in NAPA Victory Lane by Devon Jencik, RJ Surdell, Rich Hammann, Kyle Theriault, Connor Jencik, Adrien Paradis, III, Matthew Winter, II, and Kevin Crosby. The 2024 winners list does not include Jeremy Lavoie or Gary Patnode, two drivers who between them have won a total of 31 Limited Late Model races at Stafford.
Rich Hammann – “It’s very competitive this season, anyone can win a race. I’d say the division has definitely been more competitive than in recent seasons.”
Matt Clement – “I think the Limited’s have a history of one driver standing out each year. Alexandra Fearn, Andrew Durand, Jeremy Lavoie, myself, and there were a couple of drivers before I started like Duane Provost that have all had standout seasons, so this season has been a little bit of an anomaly.”
Jeremy Lavoie – “It was competitive when I entered the division with drivers like Duane Provost, Austin Bessette, Justin Bren, and the two Saunders twins, so it was competitive back in the day but man, it’s really competitive now. With the times we’re all putting out now, we’re all within a couple tenths of a second of each other so it’s a battle of who can get to the front first and then keep that position.
Gary Patnode – “I don’t think it’s ever been as competitive as it is right now. My first season was 2017 and that was when drivers like the Saunders twins, Bryan Narducci, Ryan and Alexandra Fearn, and Robert Bloxsom were all in the Limited division so it was tough back then but right now we have an absolutely fantastic field. There’s a lot of respect out there and there’s a lot of very close times when you look at the sheets.”
All four drivers along with the rest of the Limited Late Model field have been busy gearing up for their biggest race of the 2024 season, the Riley Generators LLM 30. Although he has yet to reach NAPA Victory Lane this season, Lavoie is the defending champion of the Riley 30 and he would like nothing more than to get the monkey off of his back with a repeat victory. Hammann, Clement, Lavoie, and Patnode all like their chances of winning the Riley LLM 30 as does the rest of the Limited Late Model field. And with the level of parity this season, truly anyone can come away with a victory in the biggest Limited Late Model race of the season.
Rich Hammann – “We’re always hungry to win races. I’m feeling pretty good about the race. It’s been tough to get some rubber on the track with all the rain we’ve been getting and then with the tires getting dragged around the track to dry it off. That really affects the handling of the car because you’re trying to guess how the car is going to react with the track. It’s a bit of a chess game but usually our car is better on the longer runs and as long as we have the car in the ballpark, I’m not going to be too concerned about the 30-lapper.”
Matt Clement – “I feel pretty confident for the race. We had a very fast car to start the year and we were really fast until we got in a heat race accident and we’ve been chasing the car for the past few weeks. We found a couple of issues with the car that have been causing some tightness in the middle of the corners so I’m excited that we’ll have some new tires on the car this week and I think you’ll find us at the front of the field.”
Jeremy Lavoie – “It’s been frustrating and it’s been weighing on us, but we’re going to stay persistent and we have the 30-lapper circled in my book. Extra distance hasn’t usually been my forte, but after winning the race last year, it’s definitely on my list for this year. If we can win the race, that would raise the team morale. We’ve been frustrated, but we’ve had speed. It’s tough to pass in this division because everyone is so fast and so close in times, but if we can get a back to back win, especially with my sponsor Riley Generators sponsoring the race, that would be huge for us and it would be huge for him as well.”
Gary Patnode – “We’re looking great for the 30-lapper. We’re third in points right now and we could either continue to be a contender or a bad finish in the 30-lapper could drop us down the standings. We try to not pay attention to points, but when it’s halfway through the season and you’re third in the points, you can’t help but kind of pay attention to it. We changed cars for this season and the car just spent about 20 hours in the shop this past weekend. We found a couple of things that should hopefully give us a little more speed and it looks like we’ll be front row starters again if we qualify in the heat race. I just have to hope we can get an inside starting spot and not an outside starting spot but we’ll see where we end up in the lineup after the heats.”
Tickets for this Friday’s Riley Generators Limited Late Model 30 are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets are $20.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. Reserved seating is priced at $25.00 for all ages and pit passes are $40.00 with a valid 2024 Stafford Competition License and $45.00 without a Stafford license. If you are unable to attend the event, tune into the live stream on FloRacing, the official streaming partner of Stafford Speedway.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
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